Winter's Embrace
by otakuwithanespresso
Summary: A messy haired boy, still yet to lose his youthful appearance, jumped out from behind Kaneki, grabbing his shoulders, knocking him to the ground in the process. Collecting himself off the hard linoleum kitchen floor, Kaneki pointedly glared at the attacker. Despite the hostility being directed towards him, the boy only smiled wider. Sighing, Kaneki stood up, and fixing a stern look


It was a quiet morning at the Kamii University campus. Winter winds sprung to life, twirling around scarves and mittens. Light coverings of dew covered the grass, while piles of snow lay dormant, yet to melt. In the center of the campus, surrounded by a greenhouse, the vines creeping down, undeterred by the winter's cold, lay Anteiku. Despite being one of the smallest coffee shops on campus, it was by far the most popular. However, this morning, the coffee shop was unusually quiet, especially for it's rush hour. "Too quiet, in fact," Kaneki mused. He glanced at his watch. 5:27. Two minutes past the 25 mark.

"How peculiar," thought Kaneki.

 ** _He_** had made it a habit of arriving at 5:25, right on the dot.

"Hey, yo! Kaneki!"

A messy haired boy, still yet to lose his youthful appearance, jumped out from behind Kaneki, grabbing his shoulders, knocking him to the ground in the process. Collecting himself off the hard linoleum kitchen floor, Kaneki pointedly glared at the attacker. Despite the hostility being directed towards him, the boy only smiled wider. Sighing, Kaneki stood up, and fixing a stern look, he firmly stated, "Hide, can't you see I'm working? What if I was carrying coffee cups? And they broke?"

Hide only proceeded to cross his arms behind his head and roll his eyes instead. "Well, you weren't holding anything. Plus, even if you did drop anything, the angry purple haired girl isn't here to yell at you."

"You mean Touka?" Kaneki clarified.

Hide shrugged, instead offering out his hand for Kaneki to take hold of. Taking Hide's hand and pulling himself, Kaneki dusted the dust off of his uniform. Turning to face Hide, Kaneki sighed, before asking, "Why are you here?"

Smirking, Hide leaned over and whispered in Kaneki's ear, "What, I can't see my boyfriend?"

Kaneki's cheeks flushed red, as he turned his head, blushing furiously, as Hide laughed. "Hideeeee!" Kaneki groaned in embarrassment.

To Kaneki's dismay, it only proved more hilarious to Hide, as he roared in laughter. "God, Kaneki," he wheezed out, throwing his arm around Kaneki's shoulder. "You're adorable."

Kaneki huffed, his face still tinted red. "Good to see you too, Hide."

"You too, 'neki," Hide grinned at him.

Hide moved to the other side of the counter, where he sat down at the nearest table and lay out all his belongings. Kaneki walked out to him, holding an espresso out for him. "You always get the same thing, so I saved you the trouble of having to wait."

"Thanks…Kaneki."

Hide took a sip of the drink, hiding his smile in the warm drink. A light blush blossomed across his cheek, unnoticed by Kaneki, who had moved back to behind the counter.

"Order for Fueguchi!" Kaneki passed out yet another coffee to a customer. As the line waned to nothing, he rested his head on the counter, next to the register. His eyes drifted to Hide, watching the boy leaning back in his chair, the said piece of furniture teetering dangerously on one leg. He was holding a book open above his head. "Probably cramming last minute for a test." Kaneki mused.

He continued watching as Hide reached out to take a sip from his espresso. He continued watching Hide, noting certain quirks Hide would display every now and then.

He could never place the coffee cup back on it's plate without looking. He'd miss the plate, and have to look down from the book he was studying from to put it back. When he'd lean his head back, his headphones would slowly start slipping off his head. He always caught it at the last second.

Suddenly, Hide sat up straight, prompting to Kaneki to swiftly turn away his head, lest Hide notice his staring. Cautiously, Kaneki turned back to see what Hide was doing. Hurriedly, Hide was throwing all his books in his bag, obviously late for the class he had just been studying for. A warm smile crept on Kaneki's face, wondering what he had done to deserve someone as amazing as Hide. Having collected all his things, Hide quickly got up, knocking over the chair. On his way out, he quickly ran over to Kaneki, only having the breath to quickly mumble out, "Late…class…go…" before quickly giving Kaneki a kiss on his forehead and running out.

Despite this scenario having happened many times before, Kaneki still stood there, both from shock and embarrassment. No… he was not used to these relationship things yet.

~~~~~w~h~o~o~o~o~~~t~i~m~e~~~s~k~i~p~~~~~

The sun had long since set over the horizon when Hide returned. Despite the cold outside, he was still wearing his brightly colored jacket, which did not offer much resistance against the winter's wrath. "KAAAAANEEEEKIIII," Hide called.

Kaneki returned from the back of the shop, warmly greeting Hide. "I was just finishing closing up the shop." he clarified, before fixing Hide with a worried look.

"Hide, where were you? It's dark outside, and the campus can be dangerous at night."

Hide looked at the ground sheepishly. "Sorry…I got caught up…"

His face brightened suddenly. "I almost forgot, Kaneki!"

He pulled a package from his bag, and holding it out as if it were a medal he had won. "Since you always work 'till late, and most of the restaurants close early…I brought you some food!"

Hide walked over to one of the tables, opening the package to reveal two bowls of ramen, from one of Kaneki's favorite stores.

"But Hide…that store is across town? How did you get it." Kaneki asked.

Hide laughed nervously. "Well, after class finished, I tried to hurry to make it…but there were a few obstacles."

For a second, Kaneki just stood there silent, before breaking into laughter. He wrapped his arms around Hide, whispering, "Thank you." into his ear.

They sat down at the table, discussing their days. "This is nice…" Kaneki thought.

Walking to the kitchen, he prepared two coffees. Offering one to Hide, they sat down at the table together. For a few seconds, they just sat together, hand in hand, at the table, the smoke from their coffees swirling in the air.

"Let's dance."

"What?" Hide exclaimed in surprise, tilting his head in utter confusion.

Kaneki's face flushed red as he mumbled, "Never mind…it doesn't matter."

Reaching over, Hide gently pulled Kaneki's head to face him, his hand drifting to comb through his soft, silvery locks. "I didn't mean it like that," Hide whispered in his ear. "I was just surprised."

He pulled Kaneki to his chest, wrapping his hands around his waist, leaning his head against him. Kaneki shivered against the change in temperature, as he craned his head to rest against Hide's neck. "I just thought it would be nice to dance together, you know like, together," Kaneki elaborated, before hastily adding, "If you want to, I mean. It's just an idea I had."

Hide pulled him closer, stealing a chaste kiss, before whispering, "I would love to, 'neki."

~~~~~s~h~o~r~t~~~p~e~r~i~o~d~~~o~f~~~t~i~m~e~~~~~

"So you're telling me…you asked to dance…without knowing how?" Hide wheezed out, doubled out in laughter.

"S-so?" Kaneki stuttered back. "I just wanted to dance with yo– STOP LAUGHING, HIDE!"

Laughter shook Hide's body, as he leaned on Kaneki to keep him from falling over. Kaneki's face flushed red, as he muttered, "God…I hate you…Hide."

With his laughter finally dying off, Hide smiled warmly at Kaneki, taking his hand into his. "I'd be happy to teach you."

 _The snow swirled and danced upon the air in the dimly lit gardens. The flakes twirled such like a ballerina upon the dance floor, landing with grace and precision upon the leaves of enormous evergreen trees towering above the naked branches beneath. One drop after another fell, until there was a layer of snow coating every surface, lit under a flickering park lamp. The cold December winds whistled and howled throughout the campus. But the two college students alone in the small café paid no heed. They twirled together, hand in hand, dancing to the beat of the gentle orchestra from an old speaker, moving together in tune to the falling snow outside. Their feet danced across the carpeted floors of the café, as winter finally closed in._


End file.
